Men of Progress

Throughout the 1800s, homegrown American scientists and inventors were a source of pride for the fledgling republic, which was rapidly surpassing Great Britain and the rest of Europe as a hotbed of industrial activity. The period also coincided with the peak of the Romantic Period in art, music, and literature. Accordingly, a host of contemporary children’s books, fawning biographies, and sentimental paintings like Christian Schussele’s Men of Progress lionized American inventors by portraying them as heroic figures.